Football prospects react to the first moves of the Will Stein era
Kentucky football coaches are still out on the road all over the map and every day is an opportunity to learn about Will Stein’s strategy and approach in a new era.
KSR+ is in regular contact with Kentucky’s new football targets. Right now the landscape is taking shape for the 2027 recruiting cycle and the UK staff is making sure it lays the groundwork to land the right players. Here’s a rundown of the latest that we have learned at KSR+.
Cats offer Darin Graham, others at Chicago (Ill.) Mount Carmel
Outside linebackers coach Tony Washington Jr., made a trip to Chicago (Ill.) Mount Carmel this week. The school is home to a lot of talented players.
According to EDGE defender Darin Graham, a 2027 prospect at the school, Washington extended several UK offers while he was at Mount Carmel.
Graham now has offers from Kentucky, Minnesota, and Kansas State, so he has emerged as an interesting prospect in his own right. He said Kentucky also offered three-star receiver Marshaun Thornton, four-star linebacker Roman Igwebuike, four-star safety Tavares Harrington, and 2028 four-star defensive lineman Caleb Tucker at the school.
“It’s been great so far. We’ve been talking to a lot of coaches whether between them coming to watch us work out in the mornings or whatever it is,” Graham said. “Purdue has come out to see us. Kentucky came in. I’m going to Purdue on the 31st for their junior day.”
That will be Graham’s first trip to Purdue. Now that Kentucky has made a trip to the school and is in play the Wildcats could get a visit.
“Kentucky came by and we all had a sit down and it was just all of us getting to know each other. We were in a room with my peers and (Washington) wanted to offer me and a few others so he did that. He’s the outside linebackers and EDGE coach,” Graham said. “I’ve always known about Kentucky, of course. It’s the SEC. Come on now. That’s the biggest conference ever. But I’ve always sorta known about Kentucky but not too much. It’s always been one of those schools, yeah, they’re in the SEC and now I’ve got to do my background research. I would love to take a visit down there. I’ve been to Kentucky before but that was just family-related business.”
Three-star Alabama OL will visit this month
Another offensive line target from the 2027 class will be in Lexington soon. KSR+ touched base with Anniston, Ala., iOL Sharontae Bailey after he announced an offer from Kentucky. He said that he plans to be in Lexington on January 31 for a junior day.
Kentucky’s junior day this weekend will largely be washed because of the weather and maybe entirely, depending on what happens with the forecast between now and Saturday.
Bailey is a 6’4, 290-pound iOL who has a three-star (88) Rivals rating. Bailey is the No. 20 prospect in Alabama and the No. 28 iOL nationally according to Rivals. Some of his other offers are from Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Tulane, and Liberty.
Derek Warehime extended Kentucky’s offer over the phone.
“He called me up and said I’ve got amazing film. He was asking do I know anything about Kentucky and I told him no sir. Then he was telling me stuff about Kentucky and the great staff they’ve got up there,” Bailey said. “He told me he wanted me to come up there for a visit so I’ll be there soon. They’ve got a junior day next Saturday and I’ll be at that.”
Bailey said his aggressiveness and ability to stay on his blocks are his best assets as line prospect. The only school he has visited in the past is Alabama so Kentucky will be making a very early impression when he visits.
Atherton DT Zai’Vion Meads is re-offered by UK
Last year Atherton defensive tackle Zai’Vion Meads emerged as a power four football prospect in the Commonwealth. He tells KSR+ that Kentucky, Baylor, and Wisconsin are the main power conference schools he has been hearing from lately. Colorado State just offered. Cincinnati, Nebraska, and Clemson have been involved lately, too.
The 6’3, 265-pound defensive lineman was regarded as primarily a run stopper last year. That trait is still a strong part of Meads’ game, but he went from two sacks as a sophomore to nine sacks as a junior. The pass rush work with Chris Vaughn paid off.
“To get the Kentucky offer again felt good,” Meads told KSR+. “I met with some of the coaches last week, too. I met with the new defensive coordinator (Jay Bateman) and safeties coach (Josh Christian-Young). So me and one of my teammates, Grayden Reid, we met with them at the training gym and talked to them. Then Coach (Will) Stein came to the school with Coach Washington, the EDGE coach, and they were just talking to me and telling me the expectations they had for me, where they would see me playing in the system, and all that.
“I’d be a 3-4 tech. Right now I’m 277 pounds,” Meads said. “So Coach Washington wants me to try to get to like 290 and then by the time I get to campus they’ll put 10 to 15 pounds on me. They want me to get close to 300. They just like me on the interior. They want me to be versatile from a zero tech to a 3-4.”
While the previous UK staff had offered Meads he was happy to learn the new staff is re-offering him.
Meads does not plan to take any visits in January but he will be on the road visiting schools in March, another busy time for traveling prospects. He will set a schedule with Chris Vaughn based on who is recruiting him and what makes the most sense.
Mead’s teammate, Reid, is rated the No. 37 player in the nation and the No. 4 safety in the 2028 class according to Rivals. He has been on Kentucky’s radar for months and is a sought-after national recruit.
Joe Sloan offers four-star Louisiana safety
UK offensive coordinator Joe Sloan knows the lay of the land in Louisiana very well. The Wildcats are already recruiting quarterbacks and other players from the state in the early days of Will Stein’s term in Lexington.
This week Sloan offered four-star Ruston, La., safety Jayden Anding. He has an LSU offer and is a major priority for the Tigers under Lane Kiffin as well.
Kentucky offered the 6’0, 165-pound safety on Tuesday. Rivals rates Anding the No. 15 safety in the 2027 class.
“They had come to the school to see some of the players on my team and they told me about the offer,” Anding said. “It was out of the blue. I wasn’t expecting it. He kinda talked to us as a group a little bit.”
In the past Anding has taken unofficial visits to LSU, Oklahoma, and Arizona. He does not know what other schools he will visit in the future.
Justin Burke checks on elite tight end prospect
New Kentucky tight ends coach Justin Burke paid a visit to four-star prospect Brock Williams this week. The 6’5, 210-pound prospect from Libertyville, Ill., is ranked the No. 49 player in the nation in the Rivals Industry Ranking and the No. 2 tight end in the nation.
Kentucky is aiming high at tight end in the 2027 class. Boyle County tight end Seneca Driver was at a recent basketball game with the coaching staff and the Cats are trying to get him on campus as much as possible in the early part of the year.
New York OL eyeing Kentucky visit
Kentucky is targeting offensive linemen all over the map and the first days of 2027 are proving that. Rochester (N.Y.) James Monroe iOL Alijah Jones recently announced an offer from the Wildcats. Rivals rates Jones the No. 3 prospect in New York.
Jones tells KSR+ that he knows Kentucky is one of the schools he will visit in the spring. The 6’4, 290-pound iOL has an 80.5-inch wingspan and helped his team to a state championship last season.
Derek Warehime was the coach who offered Jones from UK.
Four-star iOL Gus Corsair of Hays, Kan., also has an offer from Kentucky. The 6’3, 290-pound prospect is ranked the No. 13 iOL prospect in the nation. After Corsair announced Kentucky’s offer he told KSR+ that a visit in the spring is “possible”.
More Kentucky football recruiting notes
Head coach Will Stein has been a hands-on recruiter as Kentucky’s head coach in the first days of a new era. Stein has been making the rounds at many of the high schools in the state.
He has been to Trinity, Christian Academy of Louisville, Atherton, and other schools in the state lately.
Cutter Leftwich was at Friendship Christian in Tennessee recently. He visited Carter Jones at Poquoson, Va., this week. Jones, 6’5, 280, is a four-star (86.66) in the Rivals Industry Ranking.
Tony Washington has been in Chicago late this week. One of the players he checked on there was Brian Demoss. He was also recently in Montgomery, Ala., checking on athlete Braden Gordon.
Trenton Blaylock is one of the players corners coach Allen Brown stopped by to check on. The 6’1, 170-pound corner from Houston (Tex.) Atascocita is a three-star (85.33) in the Rivals Industry Ranking and the No. 48 corner in the nation according to Rivals.